Tobacco settlement still funding politicos

Recently this president said marijuana smoking was “no worse than smoking cigarettes;” but to hear him and other Democrats talk, cigarette smoking was the most evil thing in the world until 2010 when the only thing more evil to Democrats arrived — the TEA Party.

Recently this president said marijuana smoking was “no worse than smoking cigarettes;” but to hear him and other Democrats talk, cigarette smoking was the most evil thing in the world until 2010 when the only thing more evil to Democrats arrived — the TEA Party.

It has been drilled into our heads how evil smoking is and how many people it hurts through direct use as well as second-hand smoke harming others. Cigarette smoking is touted as the biggest medical problem we have today — so bad, in fact, that evil, big tobacco continues to pay billions to state governments as part of the 1998 settlement. The companies pay at least $206 billion over 25 years to cover health care and fund prevention.

Instead of health care and prevention, most states have treated those checks like birthday money from grandma. Fifteen years after the settlement decision, states continue to spend only a miniscule portion of tobacco revenues to fight tobacco use. Perhaps the states secretly want the tax revenue to continue so they don’t really want people to stop smoking.

In Fiscal Year 2014, states will collect $25 billion in revenue from the tobacco settlement and tobacco taxes, but will spend only 1.9 percent of it on programs to prevent kids from smoking and helping smokers quit. Very little of the coerced billions goes to medical treatment or prevention.

Mostly, Democratic politicians spend it on wasteful ideas such as National Association of Attorneys General ($1.5 billion) to pay back those that helped them get elected and further punish evil cigarette makers. The settlement also caused the cost of cigarettes to rise, punishing the lower income folks who are still evil enough to smoke and pay increasing taxes.

Many celebrate the legalization of marijuana and agree that it is “no worse than smoking cigarettes.” Everyone should know it won’t be long before the government will find big dope or big weed companies and coerce them to pay billions for the medical issues they cause, then foolishly spend those billions to buy votes to build their control and power, while punishing lower income folks again.

Democratic politicians will never have enough money for all their “helpful” causes, and someone else is always to blame when their “humane” ideas do not work. This president, attorney general and career Democratic politicians are the people Robert Lenn should be worried about controlling his life; not the sheriff in one of 100 North Carolina counties, in a country of 50 states.